Champions of Darkwell | IC Thread

[Marlowe]

MENTIONS: N/A ​

It was like a day unlike any other, and it was the least that she could ask for after such a terrible night.

Chloe had been so very close to calling out of work when she had woken up at two in the morning, cloaked in a painful sweat. Her breath had caught in her chest more than once and she had also thrown up no less than five times between the time she had woken up and the time she had been able to go back to sleep, at around four or five... and when she had woken up at nine, it was like she had hardly slept at all. In other words, there were many reasons why she should have called her boss and explained to him why she couldn't make it to work. But it was Wednesday-- Hump Day, as she liked to call it-- and in the middle of the semester. Students from the local university would no doubt shuffle over to the Nook and Cranny if they couldn't find the books they needed on campus. Zachary would need whatever kind of help he could get his hands on.

Oh well, at least she didn't have class to worry about. All she had to do after getting out of work is grab her third coffee of the day and head back home to do homework.

The Nook and Cranny suffered a steady flow of students from ten in the morning to five o clock in the afternoon. Chloe hardly had a chance to catch her breath. They all came running in, asking for something on Kafka or something else on Virgina Woolf. Then came the scientific types, pointedly asking for something on microorganisms and the function of vacu-what's it called. Whatever it was, the more complicated the topic, the more exhausted it left her. Not to mention that she seemed to be tripping over herself every five minutes, much to Zachary's disdain.

"You sure you're sober, Chloe?" he had asked her one of the times she fell. His sharp gray eyes wrinkled at her as his he scowled.

That time had been particularly painful, so she had to clench her teeth to stifle whatever discomfort had been threatening to slip into her words. "I'm fine," she had answered before she got straight back to work.

What was it with students waiting until the very last minute to do their research, anyway? Some of the students seemed rather lax as they asked for their books, while others appeared haphazard and delirious. She was sure that if everyone had been responsible, she wouldn't have to suffer as much as she did that day. Oh well, it wasn't like she could control everyone else's decisions. Luckily for her, the day was already ending. The late autumn sun dipped low into the ocean, adding a chill to the air as sunset washed over Darkwell.

"I need help closing," Zachary muttered over the quiet chatters of some of the students that were finishing their browsing. "Keep an eye out for whoever else needs any last second help."

"A-alright," Chloe piped without a second thought, feeling even more exhausted than a few hours ago. She took a spot near the front of the store, glancing out past the window panes as she reorganized some books on a small table. Gosh, I feel so out of breath, she thought to herself, finding herself let out a little pant of exhaustion. Maybe I should just skip homework for today...

MENTIONS: N/A​

For many, the come of the dusk hours meant rest. But that was when Garrett was always at his busiest. The Darkwell City Diner had some prominent members of the city during this time, instead of the lazy, doe-eyed students that sucked on frothy iced coffee and chomped on sugary pastries as they talked about who was dating who. This was the time where people left their office jobs and swung by for a cheap bite to eat. Forty year olds were much easier to disappoint than twenty or thirty year olds, that much Garrett knew. He had first hand experience in this topic, after all.

That being said, it wasn't often that Garrett disappointed people at his job. He was known for being lazy, yes, but that was outside the workplace. His apartment was an absolute mess, and he had little to no plans of cleaning up soon, but if he saw that the dining room tables were sticky or if paper straws littered the floor, he would be one of the first on the job. Sure, he was a disappointment during his quiet life, and that didn't bother him much. But if he was a disappointment during his job hours, then that meant he'd be out of work, and that wasn't something he could afford.

He guessed that he was lucky that that day was an easy enough day. Garrett had woken up with a terrible headache and smelt absolutely horrible, as if something had died in his sheets. Not to mention, he felt dazed, slow, and confused during most of the morning, but he was also lucky that faded away by the later hours. That didn't mean he was any less annoyed. That was the thing about him. Sure, he was an okay employee, but he was far from being all sunshine and rainbows. Most of the time, he hung out behind the counter, on his phone when there was nothing to do, and on his feet when someone asked something from him. He was no one for small talk or mindless chatter, or even questions about him ever going to school. And so, to avoid such things, he pretended he was the least interested individual on the face of the entire planet.

And that was exactly what he was doing. Garrett sat behind the counter, leaning back in his chair as he kicked one leg up on his knee and scrolled through his phone. He was tired, but there wasn't much of the day left to go. The side of his head throbbed like crazy, and the bright light coming from the ceiling didn't help. He sighed, pushing his thumb and index finger into his eyes. Only an hour left to go, he thought to himself.

 

[Elvario]

Alden Walton

Mentions: Chloe Estrada @Luminosity​

Alden was, by definition, someone whom valued rational thought. Yet when he woke up in the middle of the night, he firmly believed the disease he once thought to have conquered had returned to him for round two. He was about to consider promising the eldritch gods to sacrifice his firstborn if they spared his life, which, considering the country he was in, was still a better option than calling an ambulance and going bankrupt. It was also the first time he really missed England, thinking he might not even live to see it again.

Somehow, he managed to fall back asleep despite these experiences. After confirming that he was in neither hell nor heaven, he realized that he'd have to suffer through feeling as if he was hungover enough to put the entire social studies department in shame. He decided to skip morning classes, instead focussing on self-study. What little attention he could muster was spent on the only obligatory course he had left to finish this semester, a course on the history of political science he decided to go with for his extracurricular course. After that, he went on to look at one of the extra courses he had picked up, a course on astronomy. After spending as much effort on trying to get a tad bit of an understanding for the rapid expansion of the universe, he eventually gave up. Today wasn't the day either. He'd probably fail the course, but then again, it wasn't an obligatory one.

That said, for some reason, one that he really couldn't figure out, he felt even more fascinated by the stars today than he did when he randomly signed up for the course. The only problem was that he didn't want to know how they functioned, but what their alignment was. Wait? Alignment... That sounded an awful lot like horoscopes, which he despised from the depths of his very being. Why in the world would he suddenly care for that? Did he still have feverish hallucinations?

After a short lunch-break, he once again tried his hand at studying, now backed by enough coffee to last the average Englishman an entire year. To that extend, he had fully Americanized. With the history of political science done, and beginners course of astronomy given up on, it was time for the third and fourth subject. Sociology of religion and advanced logics. Somehow, he managed to end up thinking about the stars during both of them. The first only took the mention of the symbol of the 'star of David' while the second took a detour through describing linguistic patterns as unseen lines between common denominators, pretty much like how people drew... 'Horoscopes again... what's with me today?'

Maybe fearing for his life had finally broken something in his mind? Well, he knew what to do. If he couldn't keep his mind away from those horoscopes, he'd fill his mind with them until he got so bored of them that he never wanted to think about horoscopes ever again! It was getting pretty late though. Normally, he'd just rely on the internet, but feeling as horrible as he did, he didn't really desire to sit in front of a screen, so some good old paper was required. 'Maybe The Nook and Cranny is still open?' It was worth a shot.

After making his way through the city in a hurry, for as far as he felt like he could hurry without dropping half-dead in the streets at least, he noticed The Nook and Cranny was still open-ish. Spotting Chloe standing in front of the window, he waved at her. Now, despite being somewhat selfish, he knew that late customers were the worst customers and therefore felt bad for being one, so he chose his words carefully, in his own Alden-ish ways, of course.

"Ah, Chloe, good afternoon! Sorry I'm a bit late, but a near-death experience made me obsessed with horoscopes and it's been bugging me all day. Do you have something on them? Anything that can keep me occupied for long enough to get totally bored of them will do." With a pleading look in his eyes and a half-bow as a pre-emptive apology, he had hopefully approached the situation well enough to succeed.

 

[Katkook]

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"It begins today? Maybe? I don't know."

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Her Dorm -> Darkwell Diner​​

"Once I stopped expecting something, I actually started enjoying myself." She let out into the microphone, editing voice overs for her latest video. She let out a sigh and continued to cut clips together, she was very proud of cinematography, she made sure the audience could see her genuine excitement and happiness in every moment of her screwin' about or doing whatever's fun. It was at that point where she finished up the voice over then clicked on render. She leaned back in her chair, almost falling over and immediately stood up to make sure she does not actually fall over.

What did she need right now? She kept asking herself, playing with her ashen coloured hair, her eyes bounced from each corner of the room as she thought about what she wanted.

"Coffee." She let out, she pushed the chair she was using to the side to walk over to her room, she needed to quickly change from her sleepy short shorts into something more outside friendly. Her dorm was not much to look at, her roommate had moved out a year ago so it was just her. She put on some black sweat pants, her white sneakers, along with the dark blue hoodie she was wearing and had a quick glance in the mirror. Did she really want to go out wearing her glasses instead of her contacts? It is just for coffee, it would not hurt. She fixed her hair a bit and checked to see if she had eye bags, none so far so that is pretty good. With that she was off, but she did not know where the closest place to get coffee was.

She stepped out of her room and took the elevator, pulling up her phone to see where the nearest coffee place was. Darkwell Diner? At least it is not overpriced. It was a short walk and she arrived there in no time. She opened the door to the place to see a nice quaint diner. She was glad she brought her camera, this place had really cool lighting, especially at this time. She walked up to the counter and brushed her bangs off her face.

"Hi uh... Do you have any iced coffee?" She asked the man behind the counter, he seemed to be enjoying himself. She pulled out her camera and snapped a quick picture of the entrance of the diner. She smiled then turned back to the cashier, "Oh and uh... A BLT to go, you guys have BLT sandwiches right?" She asked, she had never been here and boy did the atmosphere seem cozy and nice, she did wish it was raining so it would have a better vibe.



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Interactions: Garrett Fischerman
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[Artorias]

Maxxwell Leoden
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Last night was like a fever dream, one that was so vividly real and strange but couldn't possibly be. It kept returning throughout the night and gave Max little to no sleep, barely enough to keep him awake through the day. Luckily he had no classes but was working in the IT department for the school all day, being called around the campus to fix the PCs in the Library or wherever else he was needed. His work was relatively easy today but taxing on his mind and body for whatever reason. His movements felt sluggish and like his brain was oatmeal as he slowly worked through the day wishing it would just be over so he could get some early rest and be ready for classes tomorrow.

"Shit..." Another yawn escaped from between his lips as he covered his mouth with his hand, trying not to make it so obvious that he was yawning non-stop while working on a PC in the study room that had gone down. He wasn't even hungry or wanting to go home and play a couple games of League or work on a new computer he was currently building and preparing to sell. A service he offered to the less technically inclined at his school that wanted a good performing rig without paying the absurd costs of a name brand that had half the power of what he could build for the same price. It wasn't an amazing side job, he barely made a profit because he wasn't a scumbag like those big name-brands and sold what he built just above the value he put into it by a hundred or two.

"Done." He finished up what he was doing and put the side panel back onto the PC before plugging it back in and turning it on to see if it powered and just like that it did. All that went wrong was too much dust build up and the fans weren't spinning anymore -- a common issue with some of these PCs it seemed.

"Now to go home...maybe stop by a place and get some dinner...." He should eat but really he just wanted to sleep as he put his tools away into his bag and picked it all up off the floor, packing it away neatly. Adjusting his glasses, being too lazy to put in contacts this morning, he left the study room to clock out for the day and tell his supervisor that he was done.

 

[Holy R. Enigma]

Mentions: Chloe Estrada Luminosity / Alden Walton Elvario​

In Astra's penthouse, which she was staying at in Darkwell it was a bit odd as if something messed with her mind like as if she had or been having a daydream or nightmare. It woke her up with a slight headache as if she woke up on the wrong side of the bed. She checked the time on her alarm clock, which she was shocked at the time, it was blasted really early in the morning. "W-What… is happening to me? T-That's a bit confusing… Don't like this what so ever." She said, with a withstanding painful headache. Optimistically, she wanted to say her usual saying to this whole thing but she's a bit worried. However, she usually bounces back to being a cheerful sort. It took her a bit of time to figure out what she's going to do but she definitely want to

Astra decided to take a shower so she could feel much better from when she just woke up. It was going to feel like a long day from all this time. After her shower, which didn't help much for how she was feeling a bit tired and seems like she's not feeling well. She decided to log onto her computer on her desk, which it was the best money could buy and logged onto her Shining Angel Blog. Astra looked at all of the great people who enjoyed her product reviews and helpful advice it gave her a smile. She updated her blog with a message to all the wonderful messages, 'Thank you for all your support for me and my family's companies. As well please be wonderful in any video games you play! I should really say this, Rise and Shine!'

Much later in the day, she was looking at her specific schedule for her school work and what not. However, she forgot one specific book for a subject she's in, hopefully the Bookstore is still opened. "S-Shit… Uhh, I should've probably gotten that sooner… Looks like I should hurry before it does close… what was that book again?" Astra questioned herself. With a bit of a panic, since she needs that book for the subject on history, specifically World History Class. Her family did put her in many classes in the university, which she need to keep going there even though she's basically set for life. Always have your options open, is what her mother Emma always says.

It didn't take her that long to reach the Nook and Cranny, in her nice car, it was a Porsche Sport. She parked it literally a bit of away from the Bookstore, while also locking the car and she noticed two people standing in front of bookstore. She let out a sigh of relief that there were people at the Nook and Cranny, which she did recognize them but only as passerby at the University. The smile on her face was big and she looked at the two. "Oh hello, you two… I've seen you here and there… Uhh, I forgot a world history book… for one of my classes. I'm sorry for forgetting this important thing. But everyone must rising to determined determination or something like that." Astra said with a bit of an annoyingly high optimism to how she is acting. She felt like she was being a bit too optimistic in actually talking to these two people but it could've been much worse if she missed the bookstore. Better late than never is something her mother said too. She politely covered her mouth when she yawned since its better to be polite than rude.

 

[Solace]

Mentions: Garrett, Jin​

By the time that Vien Huynh roused from his fruitless slumber, the day had already been on the precipice of nightfall. Respite had not come so easily; atop a mountain of other symptoms, it felt like his throat had been submerged in molten lava, painful to the point where he couldn't even breathe or speak properly. Though he could've sworn that a voice was toying with him, he figured that it was just the fever dreams that were only making things worse. He'd woken up quite a ways from his bed with a jolt, sprawled in his bathtub with his mouth draped open as water gently streamed from the showerhead above him. His eyes darted around the bathroom as he was slow to rise, barely catching himself against the wall when he slipped.

Vien was still feeling a bit nauseous as he slowly stepped from the bathtub, turning off the shower and stumbling towards the sink. Confused blue eyes stared back into his muddled expression, his familiar visage seemingly unsettling for whatever reason. He was still in his work attire from the previous night, but his body was damp from what he could only presume as somehow ending up passed out in the bathtub. His fingers traced down his face and around his throat, letting out a small grunt along his labored breathing. God, I can actually breathe again. Turning away from the mirror, he carefully waddled into the greater space of his apartment, searching around for his phone and finding it at the foot of his small kitchen counter.

"Well, shit," he cursed to himself as the phone's clock read a time that was well beyond his morning classes for the day, and several notifications from his unanswered alarms and worried text messages from a friend of his. Vien shook his head in frustration; the last time that he'd been this ill was long before his sister had passed, and even then, it'd only been a fraction of what he experienced the night before. At the very least, he felt fortunate that today was one of his days off, and he could recuperate for a bit. The rumbling of his stomach called for nourishment, and it prompted Vien to pull up one of many phone applications to order some food. The Darkwell City Diner was his usual choice, and despite its walking distance, he often had it delivered regardless of tacking on a fee. It was way more convenient, and the whole interaction thing wasn't exactly his preference.

Though, Vien opted to pick up the order himself for a change, figuring that a small walk after such a terrible night might alleviate his pounding headache among other things. While the apprehension of contagion lingered, he figured that other people were way more careless than he was when it came to maintaining sickness, and that a short walk wasn't going to suddenly start a widespread pandemic that led to societal breakdown. He'd just get in, get out, and laze around on his computer; catching up on missed work could wait until tomorrow. He was quick to dry himself and transition to ordinary clothing, throwing on a hoodie for good measure. He only really cared about his wardrobe when it came to work, simply because it was required; otherwise, outside of being presentable, it was of minimal importance to him.

Vien was messing around on his phone while he waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor, suddenly tensing up when a chilling sensation rolled across his upper back and shoulder. It felt as if it were someone's hand, but by the time his face bolted upright, it was gone. "I'm not going crazy, am I?" And I'm talking to myself again. Maybe I really am. Flipping the hood over his head when the doors opened and he left the complex, there was an unusual calmness within him that came with the arrival of dusk. He felt entirely reinvigorated throughout his walk, and by the time that the sign of Darkwell City Diner was in full view, his slow crawl had turned into a full stride.

Despite being a 'regular' in terms of ordering their food often, Vien had never actually been to the diner in person before. He peered through the doors from the outside before realizing that someone was about to take a picture, quickly darting out of the potential frame before awkwardly shimmying through the entrance. It seemed to be a dead hour for the establishment, evidently from the casual demeanor of the host playing on their phone. They were more than likely counting down the remaining hours of their shift down to the minutes; he was quite familiar with that sentiment at work. The only person that seemed to be 'in line' was the photographer that he dodged, feeling a bit unsure if he was able to simply walk up to the counter for an earlier pickup order or if he had to wait for the girl to be addressed. His cheeks flushed at the growing discomfort, deciding on the former and walking up to the counter while staying behind the girl.

"Online pickup for Vien," he informed the host decisively, raising his phone with the order confirmation for the person to see. Whether or not they did, Vien bluntly withdrew the phone and immediately stared down into the screen, quickly tapping around for something to look at. As much as he erased his presence from social media, he was still an avid lurker. He was only a scroll down from the front page when a League of Legends related thread showed up on the feed, seeing that it was a video post titled, "WAS IT ALL A RUSE? The History of the Most Toxic Professional Player Ever". He did his best to shoulder the terrible memories that began to float in his mind, but curiosity had gotten the best of him when he unwittingly clicked into the thread's comments. / The only successful 'ruse' he ever did was making us believe they could get out of groups against TWO wildcard teams. / Or, maybe, that he was a decent person? / Idk, that keyboard didn't look too convinced. /

Seeing that it had been quite a mistake, Vien sighed heavily as he filtered the game's discussion board from the website with a wince. It had been years ago, and yet, he was still being talked about as if it were in recent memory. 'I doubt it'll ever go away,' he thought to himself, ashamed. 'It was a fucking terrible thing to do.' He tried to drift away from those thoughts by sifting through numerous pictures of cute animals, just wanting to get his order and go back home already.

 

[Marlowe]

MENTIONS: @Elvario [Alden]. @Holy R. Enigma [Astra]​

Chloe's exhausted trance was broken by the appearance of a familiar face at the window. Alden! she thought to herself, mustering quick smile and a wave back at him. She turned to him when he hentered, her smile becoming more genuine at the sound of a considerate voice. "Oh no, it's fine! Don't worry about it. Horoscopes, though... hmmm..." she tapped her chin as she trailed off. "There might be something in the mythology section, if we have anything left. A bunch of girls came and bought a ton of them earlier today."​

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She was about to lead him over to the section when someone else approached. This person was also familiar, and Chloe gathered all of her energy to wave and smile. "Ah, I'm Chloe, and this is Alden. You said you needed a world history book, right? Here, it's this way. Come here, Alden, the horoscope books should be this way too!"​

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Chloe led them to the middle of the store, where some shorter shelves stood parallel to one another. This was where books about histories, cultures, and myths were kept. She wondered why the horoscope books were kept there, but she wasn't about to ask any questions. "Here, a world history book... this should be the right one. Oh, and, uh..." Chloe peered over at the next aisle as she picked up Astra's book. "Oh! I think we have another horoscope book available, Alden. You see it? The small book at the end of the shelf with the white spine, next to the Greek mythology one?" ​

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MENTIONS: @Katkook [Jin], @Solace [Vien]​

Garrett glanced up just in time to see a strange woman take a picture of the front door of the diner. Huh, that was new. Was she one of those "Instagram celebrities"? Ew. At least she didn't take long to place an order. "We have BLTs," he muttered, then added silently, you'd know that if you actually looked at the menu. ​

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"Iced coffee and a BLT. That'll be 10.81," Garrett said in the same bored way, ringing up the order before he wrote it on a script of paper. He slid it to the side of the table, where other orders awaited completion. When he looked up, he noticed another person on line. Wonderful. ​

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"Vyan?" Garrett sat straighter up and glanced over the bags near him. He couldn't see any names that stood out to him, from this angle at least. He let out a little groan as he lifted himself up from the chair, walking over to the small bundle of wrapped packages. One read "Vien". Looks French. But is he French? he glanced over at Vien. He looks Asian to me. ​

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"Confirm your phone number," Garrett told him, giving him a significant look. Honestly, if no one had been around, he'd just give the bag to him. But it seemed like half of Darkwell had decided to show up, so he had to put at least a little effort. His gaze wavered to Jin. "You gonna pay or not?"​

 

[Elvario]

Alden Walton

Mentions: Chloe Estrada @Luminosity Astra @Holy R. Enigma​

Alden couldn't help himself from listening in on Astra's request. Mostly because it was made directly in front of him, after he was greeted along with Chloe, but the topic itself was notable to him as well. "World History?" He recalled having studied such a book for one of the many courses he followed, and after a bit of mental digging, he also recalled something else. "Wait, is that for the course with that professor with the giant moustache?" Alden had long forgotten the man's name, but that moustache was something that could easily get its own spot in a world history book. "His exam had a stupid amount of memorization questions with dates and names, so if it really is him, I'd suggest trying to pound as many of those in your head as you can. Pretend that you're back at making high-school exams." He had just finished his sentences when he started to wonder why he was even bothering to tell her about this. Since when did he start to randomly help people that might not even want him to be involved? First the horoscopes, now this... Something definitely didn't feel right.

As for his own request, Chloe soon showed him a book after leading them through the store. She did manage to hurt what little bit of pride he still had left, however. 'Ah, for me to fall to the level of a bunch of girls that randomly buy the same kind of book en masse... The shame is unbearable.' He left the thoughts unspoken, as he instead went over to pick up the book. It was called "The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need" which Alden sure hoped would be the case. He got a little exited upon seeing it was written by Woolfolk, but he soon realized it was a totally different Woolfolk than the one he had in mind. Then again, he just needed this book to get his mind to finally stop wondering about horoscopes, as a way to create a mental hit-piece against all the nonsense that this book would undoubtedly be filled with and get sick of them. Turning back towards Chloe, he smiled. "Well, if the book's title delivers what it promises, this is pretty much what I'm looking for, thanks a bunch!"

 

[Holy R. Enigma]

Mentions: Chloe Estrada Luminosity Alden Walton Elvario
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Astra stopped yawning for a bit to smile happily when the girl waved at her and smiled. She then realized that these two are more familiar by their names. It was like something clicked in her head, which was definitely happy to see them at the bookstore. "It's nice to meet you two, Alden and Chloe. My name is Astra and yeah, I definitely need that book." Astra said, with a happy smile and with a definite optimistically approach with how she introduced herself. Her optimism is usually infectious anyways since she is always definitely the most hard worker out of the university classes she has to deal with. She definitely followed, Chloe through the bookstore to get her world history book. However, she heard Alden gave out two questions that made her giggle slightly. "Yeah, its definitely that professor, with the giant mustache." Astra responded to Alden.

It took her by a bit of a surprise when Alden is helping her, usually she does remember him not being that helpful in classes. She was a bit shocked since no one actually tries to help in University most of the time. "Thanks for the help, Alden. I will definitely keep that in my mind when dealing with that professor. And yes, he definitely does that so many dates and names." Astra said, with a bit of a gleeful attitude with someone helping her. Out of all the classes, World History is like one of the biggest pains in her head. She sighed with relief when Chloe found her world history book, since it was like this trip to the bookstore was a success. "Oh thank you Chloe! You are a life saver. It would be a pain to deal with world history class without this book!" Astra exclaimed at how helpful Chloe is. She had an extremely happy smile on her face at the same time being slightly too excited.

She was extremely grateful and she kinda giggled at Alden wanting to get Horoscopes, but everyone needs something to look forward towards. "What made you… need a horoscope book Alden?" Astra questioned slightly confused. She usually checks horoscopes on the internet without needing the use of a book, but she is a blogger. Its primarily because she puts her daily horoscope on her blog since its always good to know your horoscope for the day. Even though, its usually in a specific section on the sidebar to tell people of her horoscope for the day. She's very much enjoys blogging about everything really, since its always good to know.​